But American and Canadian comics are very well represented. I posted a feature on Stand-Up Comedy on Spotify about a year ago so thought it was about time to re-check Spotify’s humongous catalog to see who’s been added since then. Fancy a laugh? Read on for our stand-up recommendations!

I hadn’t heard of Bill Burr until Doug Stanhope mentioned his Monday Morning Podcast. I checked it out and loved it: this guy has made me laugh more than anyone has in ages. His style’s pretty black and he frequently swears, but Burr’s “Agony Aunt” style advice to listener’s relationship woes are both rudely hilarious and oddly uplifting at the same time.

Bill Burr has released three stand-up albums so far. The first one, 2007’s Emotionally Unavailable is now on Spotify.

Readers in the UK will probably know Canadian Stewart Francis from his appearances on BBC’s Mock The Week and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow. His one-liners and deadpan style make him the natural successor to one of of my favorite stand-ups, Steven Wright. Stewart Francis’ first British stand-up tour The Tour de Francis is on Spotify and is highly recommended.

Robin Williams is so well-known as a Hollywood movie star that you sometimes forget what a great stand-up comedian he was. Recorded in 1986 (at a time when Williams was just overcoming his cocaine addiction), A Night at the Met is his manic masterpiece. It’s on Spotify now along with 2009’s return to stand-up show Weapons of Self-Destruction.

Joe Rogan is another stand-up I picked up on from Doug Stanhope’s blog. His Joe Rogan Experience podcast is huge and was named one of iTunes “Best of 2010” audio podcasts. I found the podcast a bit hit and miss but the stand-up shows are definitely worth a listen. He’s released three CDs so far and all of them are now on Spotify. Check out his latest, Talking Monkeys In Space.

Russell Peters is a Canadian stand-up of Indian descent. He’s released five shows on CD/DVD, including Outsourced (the only one on Spotify so far). A lot of the material deals with race and cultural differences, and he puts on accents which some may find mildly offensive. Don’t let that put you off though: he’s a very funny guy, as demonstrated by his ‘net fanbase and earnings.

Writer and star of FX TV series Louie, Louis C.K. has been on and off the stand-up circuit since the early 90s. Of three CDs released, the latest one – Hilarious – is on Spotify. Topics range from being single again in your 40s, his divorce, his children… superficially safe comedy, he sometimes throws in some really dark curveballs to test your limits.

Marc Maron‘s WTF Podcast is so successful it even has its own iPhone and Android apps. He was here in Edinburgh for the Fringe a few years ago but unfortunately I missed him. He’s released four CDs, three of which are on Spotify. The latest is Final Engagement, a double-CD’s worth of observational stand-up, spiced up with some black comedy and satire.

If you like Dane Cook you’re in for a treat: all of his CDs are on Spotify, including his latest ISolated INcident. Specializing in long-form storytelling, he reminds me a bit of a young Billy Connolly.

About

The Pansentient League is a blog from Edinburgh-based writer Jer White (also known as Afront). It's mostly about music-streaming service Spotify, with a dose of synthpop music, Google Android, and the odd post or two about gadgets and science fiction.